China's official defence budget for 2012 is set to top US$100bn for the first time, rising 11％ to US$106bn. This compared with a 2011 budget of US$91.5bn.The budget was announced at the annual National People's Congress in March. The US government and some independent analysts think that China spends far more than its stated budget on defence. The Center for Strategic and International Studies reported in October that in its view China's military budget had risen to US$224bn in 201, quadrupling since 2000. It was interesting to note that the official defence budget growth is this year set to outstrip GDP growth, which Beijing expects to come in at around 7.5％. Director of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association Xu Guangyu said the budget was reasonable for the size of the military, which includes 2.3mn personnel. He also said that one reason for the rising spend is to provide for salaries and welfare services for staff. Reports emerged in February 2012 suggesting that China was planning to double its defence budget over the next five years with successive 18.5％ annual increases. Increases of this magnitude would be unprecedented. However, the added funds would enable China to overcome the remaining technology challenges faced by its defence industry in fairly short order.
展开▼
